Scenes from the 2016 New York International Auto Show

If you’re not a car fan, you might not be interested in an entire post devoted to cool cars from the New York International Auto Show (or NYIAS as we say in the biz). So I’ve decided that I’m going to toss up a photo album of only the coolest things I saw last week at NYIAS.

Will this be informative? Probably not. I was browsing more than I was looking and listening. This trip was all about the “ooh, shiny” factor. And during my brief stint in the Big Apple, I did a lot of walking so I’ll throw in some sightseeing pictures as well.

If you’ve never been to NYC, I think you’ll enjoy these too.

After a late afternoon arrival into Penn Station, I hoofed it to Times Square, dropped off my bag, and hightailed it to Jacob K. Javits Convention for the IMPA Welcome Reception.

What caught my eye was the one my husband had just been talking about – the Fiat Spider. “It’s the same as the Mazda MX-5, you know.” Of course, I denied it. Why would Mazda and Fiat be working together? Well, apparently I’m wrong about that.

The Fiat Spider, eerily similar to the Mazda MX-5

Clearly I was not starting off on the right foot with my knowledge of cars. So I did what anyone would do in NYC. I went CLUBBING.

Toyota had a Media Party requiring a dramatic entrance via freight elevator.

The theme was the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Toyota Corolla. But I honestly went for the celebrities.

Do you recognize her?

It’s Tamryn Manning (aka Pennsatucky) from Orange is the New Black. I was a little giddy.

After the party, I had a lovely dinner with the entire SheBuysCars team. While we’re spread across the country, we all actually came to NYC for this event and we took advantage of the rare opportunity to get together in person. Now if only we had taken a picture to capture the moment…

The next morning I awoke bright and early for a session on Connected Mobility which means so much more than automate cars. More to come on that.

After breakfast, the next thing on my agenda was a luncheon I was scheduled to attend downtown. With more than two hours to kill, I figured I’d walk off breakfast and hike the 35+ blocks from midtown and enjoy some of the sights of NYC.

Starting with Grand Central Station, right outside of the breakfast venue on Park Avenue. When I showed this picture to my husband, he gave me the fun fact that the MetLife building was once the PanAm building. Now I’m wondering how many people remember PanAm!

Finally, I made it to the first of two parks that I planned to hit. This one was Madison Square Park and full of interesting things.

Like this statue of William Howard Taft. I was too cold to read his significance to the park but thought he looked pretty presidential.

There was a playground nearby with lots of children and nannies but it was the dog park that caught my eye. NYC dogs are just the cutest. And I thought it was rather comical when I stopped a man to compliment him on his three adorable dogs. He thanked me and revealed that he had been walking them ever since they were puppies.

Only in NYC will you find dogwalkers and nannies everywhere!

Across from the park was a well-known building called the Flat Iron Building, famous for it’s thin triangular footprint.

Before I left midtown, my friend jokingly said that if my feet got tired, I could just hop on a bus. A bus? I said, as if I was too good for a bus. Nope. I was determined to walk.

Until my feet got tired. So I went down into the subway and thought, I can figure this out. I mostly did except the exact train I needed was on a long delay and I finally just jumped on whatever came next and headed south. I’m not sure it saved me any time but now I can say I ventured into the NYC subway alone. AND SURVIVED.

I finally made it to Washington Square on the campus of NYU. What a bunch of weirdos! I later told my friends to which they exclaimed, Oh yeah, that’s Washington Square.

After lunch in the Village, it was back to Javits for what I really came to NYC for – the car show! I arrived, got my press credentials, and headed into the show for the remaining 45 minutes before the real preparations for the public opening and SheBuysCars’ annual Girls Night Out event.

So I did what any car-loving chick would do. I cruised through there with my iPhone in hand and snapped a picture of anything that caught my eye. And here’s what caught my eye.

I was trying to get a good rear shot (of the car, that is) and that middle-aged dude would not give up his dreams of that car and get out of my picture.

Then, off to the Honda Pilot. Why the Honda Pilot? Because everyone claims it’s such an amazing vehicle. Personally, I could see the appeal inside or out.

What did impress me was Kia – really stepping up their game.

First the Kia Telluride Concept SUV. I’m all like, Yes, please! And Kia is all like, there are currently no plans to bring the Telluride to production.

But you can get excited over the Kia Niro. This was my first glimpse (and knowledge, actually) at the crossover hybrid coming to a dealer near you. Now if only they would have let me sit in it…

And then I stopped over to see my friend Jim from Volvo who caught me drooling over the new Volvo S90. Now accepting orders.

The big moose was there to show off their advanced system to help detect animals and other objects in your path, even at night. Maybe Volvo will take me on a moose drive this year,

Oh, you’re a fan of luxury too? The NYIAS is the show for you where I saw expensive beauties like the Bentley Bentayga,

your choice of Rolls Royce,

and the Range Rover Evoque Convertible. While I loved the car, I did question the Product Specialist’s taste in boots.

And did I mention Hyundai is now in the luxury space?

YES, I SAID HYUNDAI. Don’t be confused though. Hyundai recently sold the Hyundai Genesis and Hyundai Equus, two luxury vehicles. But now, Hyundai has its own luxury division branded as Genesis and the models have fancy pants numbers and letter like the G90.

But where they really caught my eye was the Genesis New York Concept. Ain’t she purty?

But the interior was the coolest. And yes, the picture is lousy because the windows were up and you couldn’t sit in it. I thought it was still photoworthy.

If exotic sports cars are more your thing, they had plenty of them there as well. Like this adorable little SpyKer that I had never heard of.

You could also see more mainstream performance vehicle like the Audi A8 in this fabulous green,

a stunning red Lexus LC500,

and the guy magnet known as the Acura NSX.

But the real fun for me was the people watching. I love watching the reporters from web shows and magazines from all over the world capturing their stories. I was so interested in the Maseratis as I was this guy with his camera on roller skates trying to get the perfect video shot.

In summary, I’ll use any excuse to head up to NYC but the NYIAS was the perfect one. Not only did I get to explore the city and see amazing cars, but I also go to hang with some of the most digitally influential women around.

Comments

I’ve actually been on the subway before but always with someone handing me a ticket telling me where to stand, when to get on, and when to get off. I’m glad I did it! Not well but at least it gives me the confidence to try again!!

I’ve actually been on the subway before but always with someone handing me a ticket telling me where to stand, when to get on, and when to get off. I’m glad I did it! Not well but at least it gives me the confidence to try again!!

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Wife, mother, blogger, writer. Living in Baltimore but inspired by the world around her. She believes in being kind, treading lightly, living more simply, and looking good while doing it all. Read more